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I've noticed an difference when I seal myself in my hammock, wrapping it all around me and pegging it closed. Just having the thin layer of silk all the way around definitely creates a microclimate. I was surprised each night when I'd wake up to go to the toilet, open up the hammock and feel the cool night air seep in. In addition I've also used a thin cotton sarong draped over the ridgeline to keep some heat in. This was in the summer in Spain, so temperatures never got too cold, but I had no top insulation at all, slept in shorts and a t-shirt wiith a Thermarest underneath me. I would think that the poncho liner would definitely work.

Ok, It got down to about 13-15 degrees.It does add some protection. I would say about 3-5 degrees. I put the liner under the stock HH tarp, in hind sight I wouldn't put the tarp on, or use a separate ridge line because I did have some condensation between the liner and tarp. I tied it diamond shape & let it hang down. I did have a blue poly tarp for protection so didn't really need the stock tarp. I would most definitely use it again.
I did back out the 2nd night of the trip as I found out that winter camping that cold is not for me. 30-35 at night is the lowest I think I would go.
poncho liner under the stock tarp
used "static line w/ fig 9 carabiners to run tarp ridge line cliped to tree huggers. worked great, no sag like other poly rope I was using (Thanks Shrug)

I just want to Thank NFA and the gang for letting me in their fold and hang with them and I would do it again, just not that cold!

Last edited by CrackMunk; 11-22-2010 at 20:58.
Reason: adding photo

formally known as "carolb"
Spread the love baby, Spread the Love!
Get the Ketchup!

Hey guys, just making sure that you all realize that the picture Alan posted is a "poncho" and the picture Muskrat posted is a "poncho liner". The poncho is waterproof, the liner is not.

So I went camping this past weekend and tried out my poncho liner as a cover over my blackbird. I just layed it over the skeeter netting and using some of the ties on the poncho liner, I tied one corner to the shelf tie out, found another tie out near the foot end and attached there and stuffed all the rest that was hanging over the sides, I stuffed all that between my UQ and hammock. I left a huge area not covered at the head end of my hammock. Then when I got in the hammock, I just adjusted the poncho liner to where I wanted it and then zipped up my hammock. Worked great!! I can see me needing to go back to the surplus store to buy a couple more poncho liners for my husband!! Oh, temps were 31 F @ 7am that morning & humid (naturally in my area it's always humid). Some wind, no rain & I set my large tarp up high enough to walk under. And on a side note, lots of coyote's howling (full moon!!).
Thanks again for this suggestion, I'm liking it a lot.
TinaLouise

carolb. . . I think you might have seen a greater difference in the temps had you put the PL right on the netting of the HH instead of directly under the tarp. Glad to hear that you could notice the difference with your setup. I will say there is no way my wife would ever, and I do mean EVER, allow anything directly on top of her netting. She gets claustrophobic and about tore through her hammock when I had the tarp staked to the ground in rain mode. If you don't have that concern, I would say to try it again as I described above and you should notice a greater temp difference.

TinaLouise . . . glad to hear that it worked well for you. Never thought about tucking the hanging ends into the UQ but I will try that next time. Good suggestion

“He doesn't know the meaning of the word fear, but then again he doesn't know the meaning of most words”
- Bobby Bowden

When I heard freezing temperatures were coming our way, I ran out and bought another poncho liner yesterday. It worked out great last night. Temps got down to 33 and I could tell a BIG difference this morning when I pulled the PL away, exposing me to the actual temps outside. I've been sleeping with the PLUQ all year, I just never made the connection for it to go on top as well.

I tried something else new, I placed my blue foam pad in my sleeping bag to keep from sliding off. Wow! It was the most comfortable that pad has ever been. That is, until I woke up with a wet back in the wee hours of the morning. I'll save that discussion for another thread however.

“the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth" - Chief Seattle

Muskrat: I did have it laying on the netting, I tyed the corners to the hammock line then tucked in the backside and left the zipper side hanging, I left the stock tarp on as added protection,( didn't need). I was warm all night, if not hot. I was only cold when I was out of my hammock.

Goblin: I notice a big differnece too! Did not want to get up at all! I will try using as a UQ in the spring. Never thought about that. But what a LT UQ it would make.

formally known as "carolb"
Spread the love baby, Spread the Love!
Get the Ketchup!

Just wanted to report on this. I did a cold weather hang the other night and tried this method. I tied the corners to the ends of the hammock, slung over my ridgline and tucked it into my UQ. I don't have any difinitive numbers since I was testing other new gear as well. However, I know that when I would reach out to adjust my UQ, it was WAY colder outside the overcover than it was inside. You could feel the cold air rushing when I opened a gap in the liner. I think it worked great and will probably use this method again in the cold weather.

Now the downside. I had some serious condensation built up on the inside of the PL overcover. When I woke around 3am, it was a sheet of ice that snowed on me when I touched it. Granted, it was single digits outside so I'm sure that contributed but still, it was pretty bad. Has anyone else had this much condensation build up? I'm sold on the concept of an overcover - is there a better material that would still trap the heat but have less tendancy of building condensation?